Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Time to Close the Net

The stranger entered the shop, paid no mind to anyone, and simply looked around.

Qin Wen’s eyes shifted. He shielded Wei An behind him, watching the man look around.

"Friend, what kind of Pills are you looking for? We have every type of Pill in the shop."

Qin Wen asked with a smile.

Hearing this, the stranger, who had been acting as if no one else was there, paused. He finally reacted.

He turned his head awkwardly, forcing an exaggerated smile onto his face, the corners of his mouth stretching unnaturally wide.

BANG!

The floor trembled lightly. The instant the man’s figure vanished, Qin Wen’s hand had already shot out.

When he drew his hand back, he was holding an unsheathed dagger.

"You’re courting death!"

With a flick of his wrist, Qin Wen swung the blade in a horizontal arc. In a flash, he forced the man back.

A spray of blood burst from his collarbone. The strange Cultivator plugged the wound with a finger, wiped it forcefully, and the bleeding stopped.

Qin Wen stared intently at the man. In his peripheral vision, he saw several burly men rushing over from outside, clearing the obstructive crowd in just a few leaps.

They were Cultivators from a Demon Hunting Team. If he asked for their names, Qin Wen might have even recognized them.

This was a gesture of goodwill toward Bai Mo from the Demon Hunting Team’s Cultivators; they kept an eye on the shop every day with utmost dedication.

Unfortunately, it seemed they were a little too late.

The stranger stomped his foot. With a strange CRACKING sound from the bones in his foot, his figure shot forward again.

His movements were swift, yet he left himself wide open, arms outstretched like a pouncing beast.

Qin Wen focused his spirit, let out a sharp cry as he exhaled, and pushed his muscles and bones to their absolute limit, until his internal organs ached in protest.

As Spiritual Qi surged violently through him, blood seeped from Qin Wen’s forearm. In that same instant, his dagger tore through the skin of the man before him.

CLICK!

Qin Wen’s figure rushed forward, brushing past his opponent.

Before the body, one side of which was now torn open, could even hit the ground, Qin Wen spun back with lightning speed, grabbed the corpse with both hands, and hurled it out of the shop.

The corpse landed like a sack of rags, and a large pool of blood spread out from under it.

The burly men rushing toward the shop stopped in their tracks. One of them casually snatched a straw mat that was drying by the roadside and threw it over the body.

Only then did the passersby react, scattering in terror.

Many people let out terrified screams.

One of the burly men looked at Qin Wen, who was panting inside the shop, and chuckled to his companion:

"That Qin Wen fellow, his skills are still pretty good."

"I heard he was injured in the mountains, so he retired from the field and was recruited by Alchemist Bai."

"From the looks of it, his skills haven’t gotten rusty at all..."

Qin Wen gave a solemn nod to the burly men outside, then turned to the still-shaken Wei An.

"It’s over now. I can’t believe someone dared to run wild in the shop so openly."

Wei An was stunned for a moment, then gradually came back to his senses.

"Huh? Oh. Right."

’The last time something like this happened was when I was fleeing a famine with the other refugees.’

’People back then were just as unreasonable. They’d attack without warning, all on a sudden, malicious whim.’

’It’s enough to keep you from sleeping soundly at night.’

「Outside the shop.」

The burly man who had thrown the mat and its owner, who was squatting nearby, now stared at each other in dismay.

After a moment’s thought, the owner tremblingly held up three fingers.

The burly man immediately flew into a rage.

"What?! You might as well be a robber! Why are you even running a stall..."

Things were getting chaotic outside. Lanshan, who had been nearby, came rushing over but was blocked by the scattering crowd, forcing him to slow his pace.

He was about to shout at them when he suddenly heard a hoarse, unpleasant voice.

"Ha! So this is the kind of Beast Slave they’re using? Such inferior goods?"

"You just... wait for me..."

The man seemed to realize how loud he was and subconsciously lowered his voice, which only made him sound more like a quacking duck.

Lanshan’s expression darkened. He pinpointed the direction of the voice and dashed into a nearby alley.

He hurried, but he was only in time to see the corner of a robe vanishing around a bend.

Lanshan’s eyes narrowed. With his hand resting lightly on his waist, he quickened his pace and moved forward.

SHING!

The blade at his back left its sheath, releasing a cold gleam as a dense wave of Spiritual Qi pulsed outward.

The area around the corner was empty.

The dust stirred up by his Spiritual Qi settled, and Lanshan slowly let out a breath.

After looking around, he slowly withdrew and returned to the shop a moment later.

When Qin Wen heard about his encounter, his expression immediately darkened.

"Just as I thought, someone is deliberately making trouble. It’s probably those Demonic Cultivators. The nerve of them!"

He called all the shop staff together to inform them of the matter.

"Everyone be careful! Especially when you leave the shop after your shift!"

Xue Ning was alarmed. "Our shop has always just focused on business. How did we end up being targeted?"

"Hou Cheng, for the next few days, don’t go into the Alchemy Room. Stay out front and help Brother Qin. Everyone, keep watch."

"Alright."

So many Demonic Cultivators had been caught in this area that such news no longer sparked much gossip.

However, the tale of Qin Wen’s ruthlessness and the gruesome state of the corpse did spread, generating some buzz among the Cultivators.

Two hours later, Bai Mo returned. He only learned of the incident after overhearing passersby discussing it on the street.

"Did anything happen?"

"We’re fine," Qin Wen said.

Lanshan, who was still in the shop, added:

"Brother Qin’s skills are extraordinary, but he’s still not fully recovered. Going all out like that has left him with some internal injuries."

This was a minor issue. With so many Pills in the shop, all he needed to do was take one and then rest and recuperate.

But when Lanshan recounted what he had heard, Bai Mo’s gaze sharpened.

’If the Demonic Cultivators stop acting personally and start using puppets like that, it will be another huge problem for everyone.’

’Bai Mo’s shop, in particular, could only passively endure the harassment.’

"If things get worse, I’ll call in a few favors and have some of the available senior brothers from my sect come help stand guard."

’As a respectable Pill Master, and especially after helping his sect-mates refine several batches of Pills, he had a certain amount of influence now.’

’If he was decisive, he could ask a few people to stand guard long-term and eventually deal with the person pulling the strings.’

Everyone spent the rest of the day on high alert.

Before Bai Mo could even head to Mountain View Tower, a fellow disciple came to find him.

Bai Mo was a little surprised.

"What is it?"

The disciple smiled. "Since you ran into trouble here, Junior Brother, we feel we can’t delay any longer."

"Brother An has ordered us to close the net and see how many big fish we can catch."

Bai Mo’s heart skipped a beat.

"When?"

"Tonight."

’So his sect-mates hadn’t been idle. Through repeated tracking and probing, they had figured out the enemy’s patterns.’

Bai Mo was overjoyed.

"Where are you closing the net? Do you need any help? I have some manpower here."

The disciple smiled. "Right here on your street, at the home of an old man who raises dogs."

"Several groups of Demonic Cultivators have passed by the old man’s place, but for some reason, they always withdrew."

"But their people are gathering now. It seems they’re about to make their move."

Bai Mo was surprised, yet he also felt it was to be expected.

"I knew it. There was always something strange about that old man. He often comes to my shop, and it always feels very deliberate, though I never knew why."

"Oh?" the Xuandao Sect Cultivator said in surprise.

"Is that so? I wonder what that was about. I suppose we’ll just have to ask him in person."

The two spoke for a few moments more.

Intercepting so many Demonic Cultivators would require significant manpower.

The men of the Demon Hunting Team were all skilled fighters and would make for excellent reinforcements.

In any case, it was for the good of Immortal Arrival City. And with the request coming from Bai Mo, no one in the Demon Hunting Team would refuse.

Finally, it was decided that Bai Mo would organize fifty men to help block the entrances to the street and alleys.

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